Men busted in Allentown prostitution sting

July 15, 2010|By Manuel Gamiz Jr., OF THE MORNING CALL

Almost a dozen men from were allegedly looking for love in all the wrong places on Wednesday afternoon.

Allentown vice officers set up a prostitution sting on Ninth and Linden streets and Ninth and Turner streets, arresting 10 men trying to proposition an undercover police officer for sex, Capt. George Medero said. Another man was arrested after he lied about his identity, he said.

That section of Allentown has historically been known for prostitution, Assistant Chief Joe Hanna said, and police have targeted it in the past.

Hanna said police receive constant complaints from residents in the neighborhood, saying men cruise the streets looking for prostitutes. Women who live in the neighborhood have also complained that they have been harassed by men thinking they are prostitutes, he said.

Police have arrested prostitutes in the past, but he said the men who shop for their services share equal culpability.

"It's much like drugs: You cut off the supply, you're pretty much circumventing the action," he said.

The sting operation began at 11 a.m. and ended at 4:30 p.m., and those arrested ranged in age from 20 to 64.

Medero said arrests were made only after a "john" approached the decoy and initiated a "sex for money contract." Despite heavy rain at times during the sting, Medero said "we still made more arrests than we expected."

Those arrested on charges of patronizing a prostitute were:

• Niky Deutschlander, 45, of 2809 Emmaus Ave., Allentown

Manuel Largo, 57, 2449 Mickley Road, Whitehall

Edward Moyer, 63, 244 E. Adams St., Allentown

Juan E. German-Fabian, 51, no current address

Amauris Guererro, 35, 401 N. 10th St., Allentown

Manuel Martinez, 64, of 952 Wayne St., Allentown

Frank Koteles, 63, of 2530 Mountain Lane, Allentown

Hasan Arslan, 55, of Oxford, N.J.

Jamie Dettra, 20, of 314 N. Church St., Allentown

Nicolas Garcia-Rivas, 25, of 706 N. 12th St., Allentown

Police also arrested Jose Cruz, 40, no current address, on a charge of giving a false name to police.